Too Much Homework
Alison Keane is sitting at her desk in her bedroom when she hears her mom
call her for dinner. She pus her pencil down, closes her math book, and
walks to the dining room. Her mom is putting the food on the table, and
Alison helps by getting the salad out of the refrigerator.
"Alison, I haven't had a chance to talk to you today because you went straight to your
room when you got home. Do you have a lot of homework?"
"Oh yeah! I can't believe how much my teacher gave us. I have 20 problems to
do in Math, a story to read for my English class, and a map to draw for
Geography. I also have to write all my spelling words twice and do the
chapter questions for History," Alison replied.
"Wow! That certainly is a lot of work for a third grader to do!"
"I know. I guess I should eat fast, so I can go back to my room and finish
my homework," Alison says as she sits down at the table. "Hey, Dad!"
"How was your day, Alison?"
"It was all right."
"Jim, you wouldn't believe how much homework Alison has for tonight. She
hasn't even had a chance to play at all." Alison's mom seems upset.
Her dad looks at her and then says to her mom, "Well, Danielle, a little
homework never hurt anyone. Isn't that right, Alison?"
"I guess, but we just have so much."
"Oh, now don't complain. I'm sure it's not as bad as the two of you are
making it out to be. Now, let's eat. Danielle, this meal looks delicious."
"Thank you. Alison, do you want some mashed potatoes?"
"Yes. I also want a piece of chicken."
The three eat silently and quickly. When Alison finishes, she heads back to
her bedroom and starts working on her math homework, again. She finishes the
math problems, draws her map, writes her spelling words, answers the
questions for History, and then reads her story for English. By the time she
finishes, it is five minutes past her bedtime, and she hasn't even taken a
bath yet.
Her mother walks into the room, "Alison, why aren't you in bed?"
"I just finished my homework. I guess I'll take a bath in the morning,"
Alison said as she climbed into bed.
"But that means you'll have to get up earlier. I think I should talk to
someone about how much homework your teacher is assigning." Alison is
already fast asleep. Mrs. Keane shakes her head, tucks Alison in, shuts the
door, and walks into the living room where her husband is. "Jim, Alison has
just finished her homework. That means she is going to have to get up early
tomorrow to take a bath before she goes to school. I don't like it. An eight
year old shouldn't have this much homework!"
"Danielle, this is probably a one time thing. She usually doesn't have that
much. Please don't worry about it."
"Okay. But if she comes home again with as much as she had tonight, I'm
going to talk to somebody." Mr. and Mrs. Keane watch one of their favorite
shows and then go to bed.
The next morning, Alison's alarm clock rings at 6 a.m. Alison crawls out of
bed and walks into the bathroom. She turns the water on and fills the tub.
She steps into the tub, sits down, and falls back to sleep. At 6:30, Mrs.
Keane wakes up and walks into the bathroom only to see Alison in the tub.
She pats Alison on the shoulder to wake her up. Alison opens her eyes and
asks, "Mom, what time is it?"
"It's just after 6:30."
"Oh, no! I have to hurry! The bus will be here soon!"
"Don't worry. If you miss the bus, I'll take you to school. Finish your
bath." Mrs. Keane walks out. When Alison finishes her bath, she walks into
her bedroom to get dressed and then goes into the kitchen for breakfast. Her
mom has the cereal and milk ready for her on the table.
"Alison, you eat while I get ready."
Alison pours herself a glass of orange juice and sits down at the table.
her cereal and watches her favorite cartoon. When she finishes eating, she puts
puts her dish and glass in the sink and goes back to the bathroom to brush her
teeth. She hears the bus pull up as she is brushing her teeth. Her mom walks out
and tells the drive that Alison will be right there. Alison hurries back to her room,
grabs her backpack and her lunch, and runs out to the bus. She is in such a rush
that she doesn't see her history homework still sitting on her desk.
The school day is going smoothly. Alison turns in her spelling homework and
tells the teacher what the story she read was about. She finds out that she
got all of her math problems right. Her map is the best one in the class,
but when it comes time for History, Alison is shocked to discover that her
homework is missing. Mrs. Price tells the students to pass their homework to
the front so she can collect it. Alison raises her hand, and Mrs. Price
calls on her. "I think I left my homework in my bedroom. I was in such a
hurry this morning that I didn't get a chance to make sure I had everything."
"Well, that's too bad, but you know what it means. I'll have to assign
double homework to you tonight," Mrs. Price says as she collects the
homework from the other students.
That afternoon when Alison gets home, her mother asks her about her day and
how much homework she has. Alison tells her mom how she left her homework
by accident and now has double homework. "What exactly do you have to do
tonight?"
Alison takes out her assignment book. "I have another 20 problems in Math,
another story to read for English, and chapter questions for Science. I have
to learn some verbs for Spanish, and I have to answer some more questions
for History. And Mrs. Price told me that I have to write a paragraph about
one of the people we're studying in History and do an extra set of questions.
I'm going to my room to start"
"Okay." Mrs. Keane is angry. She can't believe that a teacher would give so
much homework to a child. When Mr. Keane walks in the door, she says to him,
"Guess how much homework Alison has tonight!"
"I don't know. How much?"
"Go ask her!"
Mr. Keane walks to Alison's room and knocks on the door. Alison tells him to
come in, and he sits on her bed and is amazed by all the books on her desk.
"Do you really have this much homework?"
"Yes. And Mrs. Price gave me more than the other students because I
accidentally forgot my history homework. Here it is," she said as she showed
the paper to her dad. "I left it here this morning when I was rushing to
catch the bus."
"Well, get back to your work. We'll call you when it is time to eat." Mr.
Keane walks back to the kitchen and begins helping his wife prepare dinner.
They talk about how much homework Alison has and how long it is taking her
to finish.
Mrs. Keane begins to sauté the onions, garlic, and tomatoes for her lasagna.
She talks to Mr. Keane about how upset she is that Alison isn't getting any
time to play. "Did you know that they also cut recess time because they said
the children didn't need to play so much? They say that studying is more
important than playing. I agree that studying is important, but children
need to play also," she exclaims as she leaves the tomato sauce to simmer
and begins preparing the vegetables.
"I know what you mean. I think we need to call some of the other parents
tonight to see how they feel about this."
"I agree." The two of them finish preparing the vegetables and put the
lasagna together, and then put it in the oven. When the lasagna is ready,
they call Alison. She walks into the dining room and sits down at her spot.
Her parents ask her what the other children think about all the homework
they're getting. She tells them that some of her friends fall asleep during
class and everyone is complaining about not being able to play. Mr. and Mrs.
Keane look at each other. They promise Alison that something will be done.
When they finish eating, Alison goes back to her room to finish her
homework, and her parents begin calling some of the other children's
parents. They find out that many of the parents are angry about the amount
of homework, so all of them decide to meet with the principal the next day
and complain.
After the school bell rings the next morning, the parents march into the
principal's office and ask to talk to him. Mr. Gregory, the principal,
greets them and asks them to come in. "What seems to be the problem?"
"Mr. Gregory," Mrs. Keane begins, "It seems that Mrs. Price is giving our
children too much homework. Alison comes home every day, goes straight to
her room to do her homework, stops long enough to eat, and then goes right
back to her homework. She finishes after her bedtime, so she has to get up
very early in the morning to take a bath and eat before the bus comes to
pick her up. I called Mrs. Price last night, and she doesn't think she is
giving the children more than they can handle. But our children never get to
play. Recess has already been cut. Now they can't play at home either. We
are here because we want our children to be able to be children."
"Mrs. Keane, I understand your concern. I will look into this right away."
"Thank you." The parents walk out, hoping the children will have less
homework when they come home tonight.
Mrs. Keane is waiting at the door when the bus pulls up. Alison walks in and
smiles at her mom. "We have a lot less homework tonight. I think I'll go
play in the backyard for awhile." Mrs. Keane smiles and hugs her daughter.
Alison runs to her room, changes into her play clothes, and heads outside to
her playhouse. As she watches her daughter having fun, Mrs. Keane is happy
that she and the other parents took a stand.
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